A Case of the Joeys
by Oreos Are Happiness
Summary: Liv and Maddie are coming home for Christmas after their first semester in college, and it looks like Maddie brought a friend with her. How will Joey handle this interesting turn of events? My first fic in years so we'll see how this goes. Open to suggestions! Rated T for possible later chapters.


Hello, everyone! This is my first fic since 2010 and my second fic ever. To be honest I usually just prefer to read fanfiction rather than write it, but my roommate got me hooked on Liv and Maddie and I felt the lightning bolt of inspiration strike me at 2am last night. So I wrote down my thoughts, went to sleep, went to class today and now here I am, 1am and gonna try and write this thing. I noticed Liv and Maddie is very underrepresented and rather underappreciated here, so…I thought I'd contribute to the community. You know, for fellow fangirls like me. ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! :)

 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Liv and Maddie. I wish I did…especially their wardrobes.

 _*This story takes place during Liv and Maddie's first year of college._

* * *

" _Gooooooood morning, Stevens Point! Johnny Nimbus here, giving you the latest scoop on all of the hottest news for this coming Christmas weekend! We can expect several inches of snow—"_ Joey pressed "snooze", the plastic twitching tail on his kitty alarm clock (last year's birthday gift from Maddie, which had resulted in some girlish screams of delight on his part) and groaned. He rolled onto his stomach and pressed his face into his pillow. He peered at the clock through the eye that wasn't mashed into his pillow. _9:01_. He groaned again. _I shouldn't be up this early_ , he thought. But he had promised his mom, Karen, that he would help her run errands before the twins came home from college later that day. The semester had started late and finished late for both Liv and Maddie, despite the fact that they attended different universities. Most colleges across the country had been finishing up exams this week, Notre Dame (where Maddie attended) and Juilliard (where Liv attended) included. It was Friday, December 23rd, and they each had just finished their exams yesterday. Karen and Pete (but mostly Karen) were anxious for the safe arrival of their daughters, but were even more anxious about preparing the house for Christmas with them. Liv and Maddie still envisioned the happy, family-oriented Christmases of their childhood. However, their parents just hadn't gotten around to decorating the house for Christmas yet. So, Joey would be helping his mother clean the house and then put up some Christmas decorations before the twins got home. Then they would decorate the tree together, as a family.

The only problem was—Joey was not a morning person. He was 18 years old. No sane teenage guy would be caught, awake, at 9am on a day off…but he should probably amend that statement. No teenage guy in general (because let's be real, he is definitely not sane) would or should be awake at 9am on a day off. Yet, he had promised Karen, and he would fulfill that promise. He rolled out of bed onto his wood floor, letting out a high-pitched yelp as his elbow collided with the floor, and stood, scratching his head. It was time for a shower, and then he would go find his mother.

Feeling slightly more awake from his shower, Joey ran his fingers through his wet hair, making it stick up in random directions. He had read in some teen magazine about how it helped your hair dry faster, _and_ that apparently girls found it sexy. How, he didn't know, but if girls enjoyed it, he could use all the help he could get. He rubbed a clear patch on the fogged-over mirror and his eyes widened in dismay when he saw how unkempt it looked. He tried to flatten it by patting it down, but it continued to stubbornly stick up in several different directions. After several more unsuccessful tries, he shrugged and gave up.

A loud knock sounded from the other side of the bathroom door, making him jump.

"Joey, honey?" Karen called. "Did you remember your clean underwear this time? I need to come in. I have some updates on our itinerary for today." Joey sighed.

"YES, mother, I remembered clean underwear this time. And yes, I am dressed. Let me get the door." He opened the bathroom door, letting the steam gush out.

Karen's eyes were immediately drawn to his hair. "Honey, is that the latest hair trend these days? Well, it's a little messy, don't you think? Maybe I should just—"

Joey ducked under his mother's outstretched arms. "Mom, NO, just leave it. I'll take care of it later. What's up? What do you need?"

"Well, while you were in the shower, the girls called, one right after another. I swear, their twin connection is a little eerie sometimes. But anyway, Maddie said they ran into some backed up traffic, so they won't be home until around five. But Liv will be here soon—in an hour or so! And we have so much to do! The decorations need to be put out, the tree moved, their bedroom dusted and vacuumed, the rugs rotated—and I'm just not ready!" Karen's hands were fluttering around in front of her, as if looking for something productive to do. "You know I would do more, but with my condition…"

"I know, Mom, calm down. I can move the tree and clean their room for you. Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine." There was no way he would let his mother overexert herself while cleaning. The previous year, she had been diagnosed with MS and was not always steady on her feet, so while he didn't exactly enjoy housework, he was more than willing to do what he could to make her more comfortable and less anxious. "I've got this."

After hauling the vacuum cleaner up the stairs, step by painful step due to his lack of musculature, he came to Liv and Maddie's bedroom door, pushing it open. For the most part, the room looked the same as ever, except for a few key decorations missing—Liv's diva board and usual surplus of clothing, and Maddie's basketball things. It made the room feel empty and lonely somehow. Joey smiled slightly. He'd never tell them, but he was glad they were coming home for Christmas. The house got kind of quiet without them.

 _Right,_ he thought, finding an outlet to plug the vacuum into. He needed to hurry if he was going to successfully help Karen prepare for the twins' arrival. He surveyed the room. "I guess I'll start with Maddie's side," he said aloud. The bed had already been stripped and new linens put on, so he didn't have to worry about that. He switched on the vacuum and began covering the carpet in even, methodical rows. After vacuuming around Maddie's bed, he stopped to turn off the vacuum and peer under the bed, immediately beginning to sneeze. "Okay, so it's been awhile since anyone has vacuumed under here," he mumbled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Amid the dust bunnies, lone socks, and an old, empty pizza box were some crumpled up pieces of pink paper. He stood up and pushed her bed to the side, grabbing the socks and placing them in the empty laundry hamper. He turned back to the pizza box and crumpled papers.

"Well, I had better throw these away too…provided the papers aren't anything important. Let's just double check." He grabbed a paper and smoothed it out.

"Mrs. Joey Rooney" and "I love you, Joey Rooney" were written in girlish, loopy cursive, surrounded by little pink hearts, a relic from the days of Willow's obsessive crush on Joey.

"Wow, that's been a few years…" Joey thought. Two years, more or less, since Willow had stopped trying to impress him. He wasn't sure quite what had happened, but one day Willow had just backed off. She started to quietly keep her distance. She stayed friends with Maddie, of course, because they were best friends. But soon after, she told Maddie that her family was moving to Indiana for her father's work. A month later, her family moved away, and Joey's biggest nuisance was gone overnight. It was nice at first, for him at least. He felt bad for Maddie, since her best friend moved away. She became noticeably quieter and more reserved. She didn't smile as much as she used to. Everyone knew Maddie was having a very hard time dealing with Willow moving away, but there wasn't much they could do to help her. However, the problem had been unexpectedly solved when the twins were going to begin their senior year of high school in the fall and had already begun to look at colleges and programs that most interested them. One day, Maddie came home from school with a new spring in her step, seeming happier than she had been since before Willow left.

"Hey, Maddie, how was your day?" Pete had asked her cautiously.

"Great, actually! I realized where I want to go for college—Notre Dame! It's in Indiana, and Willow is planning on going there too! They have an excellent movement science program AND their women's basketball team is known for being exclusively for the super talented! I want to go to Notre Dame!"

"Wow, sweetie, that's good to hear! But are you sure you want to go for the right reasons? I know you miss Willow, but you shouldn't make such an important decision based on where your friend is going to school." That was Karen, always acting the psychiatrist.

"Mom, Dad, I understand why you would be concerned, but I really want this. This is the first time I've actually felt like I have a sense of direction for my life. Tackling college with my best friend at my side is just a bonus. A great one, but a bonus nonetheless. Do you think I can get in?"

Pete had rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Yes, of course, Maddie! You've got the brains AND the talent to get in at a great school like that! My daughter, playing for Notre Dame…" And he was gone, lost in his own daydreams of his daughter wearing a blue and gold basketball uniform and playing college basketball.

Karen, after some more convincing, had agreed that Notre Dame could be very good for Maddie, as well. When the time came for Maddie to head to Notre Dame and reunite with Willow, she was much happier. She hadn't been home since she left for school in August, partially because she had been so busy and partially because she felt at home at Notre Dame. From his mother's phone conversations with Maddie, it sounded like she and Willow were reattached at the hip. Which made him wonder…hadn't his mom said Maddie said "they" were on their way home? Who was "they"? Diggie attended Notre Dame as well, but he had headed home and arrived in Stevens Point two days previously, so it wasn't him. Joey scoured his brain for some other answer, any other person who could be coming with Maddie. But no…that must mean…

He hurried down the stairs and came to a stop facing Karen in the kitchen. "Mom, who was that 'they' that you mentioned earlier when you mentioned talking to Maddie?"

"Oh, honey, Maddie asked if Willow could stay with us over break, since her parents are on vacation in Europe. I told her yes. Willow is practically family anyway. But, Joey, you be nice to her!"

"I will, Mom. I was never mean to her in the first place…"

"OH, and! Apparently Willow is bringing another friend with her. Isn't that nice? Normally I would be much more upset about it, but for some reason I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit this year and so I don't mind! Maybe it's all of you kids' Christmas decorations I've been finding. They have me in nostalgic Mom mode." She walked away, humming "Silver Bells" to herself. Joey, meanwhile, sighed. He had to spend Christmas with Willow? She probably still liked him, didn't she? A case of the "Joeys" never _really_ went away. But either way…it looked like Willow was coming, and there was nothing he could do to stop her.


End file.
